Happy New Year!

Last modified on 24 December 2018. Posted in General

Happy New Year!

To the many community members, farmers, students, teachers, activists, staff, friends, partners and government institutions with whom we have collaborated in 2018, we extend a heartfelt thank you for your contributions! The sum of all our efforts has indeed been great, and below you can read about some of the highlights from the past year.

Education

Teacher training has been, as always, a central part of ADPP’s focus throughout the year. 1110 new graduates in 2018 brought the total number of graduates from ADPP teacher training colleges to 10.754, whilst some 40.000 primary school children were taught for a full school year by final year students from the teacher training schools. 8 Polytechnic Schools for young people, literacy training for adults and in-service training of teachers in rural areas all continued apace in 2018.

A pilot project in STEM training was successfully concluded in 2018. With a focus on training teachers to give practical lessons in science and maths, the project represents a much-needed innovation in Angola. Simultaneously, it is also an expression of the fact that although work remains to be done to get all children in school, the quality of education delivered is now very much a priority.

Health

ADPP’s health focus in 2018 has continued to be on malaria, HIV, TB, sexual and reproductive health, and water and sanitation. One of the highlights of the year was taking part in the first community-based TB project in Angola, which we look forward to continuing in 2019. The Angola-Namibia cross-border malaria project was also a highlight of the year, as the Elimination 8 programme seeks to combine efforts to eliminate malaria throughout the region.

Another noteworthy feature of our health initiatives in 2018 was the breadth of work undertaken in consortium with other organizations. Many thanks to The Mentor Initiative, CICA, JC Flowers, DAPP Namibia, AAP Namibia, PRAZEDOR, MBAKITA, Etungafano, ASPALSIDA and ADC. Civil society response to malaria, HIV, and TB has undoubtedly been strengthened by our joint efforts and we have already engaged new organizations to join a consortium in 2019.

Agriculture & Environment

Farmers’ Clubs and Farmers’ Field Schools have flourished in 6 provinces in 2018. Common for them all is the focus on creating structures and systems in which farmers get organized, trained and engage in systematic learning on sustainable agriculture. Leadership and management skills are developed, and experience sharing between farmers made possible, all of which promotes long-term sustainability. During 2018, pass-on loan systems, in which clubs lend pairs of small animals to members to breed their own, have very much caught on and are well placed to continue independently. The same focus on organization, structured learning and experience sharing has also been used to good effect among staff of the Farmers’ Clubs projects, who benefit from each other’s experiences.

In 2018, we were again able to expand our work in providing literacy training to farmers, this time to 6000 farmers in Huambo, Bie and Malange, bringing the total of adult literacy participants in 2018 to over 20.000. This will give them a major boost in their work to increase their production and sales.

Since the 80s, ADPP has been concerned with protecting the environment, and 2018 was no different. In addition to learning about climate change, staff and participants at projects throughout the country planted more than 50,000 trees. ADPP also begun implementing a project on sustainable charcoal production and community management of natural resources, which has been a valuable addition to the portfolio of environmental activities.

Community Development

Integration has been the key concept in ADPP’s community development work in 2018, in recognition of the fact that permanent action in the areas of education and health (and often agriculture) are crucial to any kind of community development in rural areas throughout the country. In Bibala and Gambos, the project has combined solar energy and drilling of new boreholes to increase access to water, with strong health and education components and Farmers’ Clubs. Creating community structures, organizing and training community members to lead activities, and involving the general population in many different activities will leave them in a stronger position to continue creating development in the longer term.

Similarly, the community development project in 70 inland fishing communities has worked to build the capacity of village action groups, worked on topics ranging from nutrition, through health and sanitation to savings groups. Literacy training is also being provided for more than 7000 people throughout the target area. The work of strengthening cooperatives is also an important part of the strategy for long term development.

The Women in Action programme was expanded with to a further four locations in 2018. Mostly taking place in urban areas, the projects still focus heavily on integrating a range of elements: tailoring, literacy training where necessary, entrepreneurship and business incubation.

As the year drew to a close, ADPP signed a formal agreement with the Ministry of Social Affairs, Families and Women. This agreement is significant for all aspects of our work in each of the four sectors, where promoting the role of women in society has always been fundamental. Alongside existing memoranda between ADPP has with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Internal Administration / FAS this strong cooperation with the government lays the base for creating much more impact in the years to come.